In recent times, there has been a lot of hue & cry over the
right to freedom of expression. The latest incident related to the same topic
is the arrest of two young girls who expressed their opinion on a social
networking website. It is evident that we as a country have become utterly
confused about the concept and difference between criticism and insult.
Criticism pertains to questioning or disagreeing with
someone or something and which is usually (and should be) backed with logical
reasoning.
Whereas, insult is an emotional outburst to display the
dislike for someone or something with usually no backing with logic or reason.
When a person resorts to insulting another person, it is mainly because of the
lack of valid logics to disagree. It is just a sign of desperation to hurt
someone due to a prejudiced dislike.
The debate on the right to freedom of expression has
entangled itself between two sets of confused people.
- Those who take any and every criticism against themselves as an insult.
The recent case of the arrest of the two girls is a clear
example of this type of confusion. It was actually just an act of valid
criticism of the concept of ‘bandhs’ which was taken as an insult.
- Those who think that the right to freedom of expression is actually the right to freedom to insult/abuse.
The case of the cartoonist who was arrested and charged with
sedition (though the charge of sedition was absolutely absurd) is an example of
this type of confusion. The cartoonist displayed his emotional outburst towards
the rampant corruption and ended up insulting the national symbols. This, he
felt was under his right to freedom of expression.
In my opinion, freedom to express oneself is about differing
and disagreeing with the opinion of others and to be able to express that
disagreement and question the other opinion on the basis of logic. Resorting to
abusive/insulting words or expressions is a clear sign of desperation of not
having a concrete logical backing for one’s opinions.
Criticism towards one’s beliefs is the most common type to
be perceived as an insult. The belief can be the devotion to a God, a person or
even a practice. These days people tend to have such concrete beliefs that
anything which logically questions that belief is taken to be an insult.
Criticism should be taken as a welcome means for self
improvement. Not being questioned leaves a person in oblivion about the
validity of his own thoughts. Also, criticism is a handy tool to correct the
shortcomings of people and organizations. It makes room for debate in
situations which may be heading in a pre-judged but faulty direction.
On the other hand, sometime back as I tried to reason with
another blogger who thought that freedom of expression meant freedom to insult,
I realized how the freedom can be made a tool to create nuisance.
Take for example, the case of the cartoonist above. India
has had some brilliant cartoonists like Sudhir Dhar, R. K. Laxman, Sudhir
Tailang, Ajit Ninan and many more. None of them had to resort to rude, crude or
vulgar drawings but still managed to put their opinions across so strongly.
I’m not a believer in religious practices. I question and
criticize religious practices (even specific Gods) on the basis of logic and
reason. But that doesn’t make me abuse or insult just for the sake of
disagreement. I would debate a religious devotee on the basis of my logics but
not to insult him or his religion.
India
is facing a time of increasing intolerance to criticism and simultaneous
increase in abusive/insulting expressions of opinions. Those in high places of
social, political and religious power are highly intolerant to criticism which
they interpret as insult.
Mostly, the political class resorts to abuses/insults just
because they don’t have a logical backing to their opinions. And this includes
the so-called emerging crusaders against corruption who often cross the line
from criticism to abuse.
While debating with the blogger I mentioned earlier, I was
told that feeling abused or insulted is a subjective thing. Something appearing
abusive to one person may not be similarly perceived by another. Yes, I agree
that there are extremes of people on both ends of the spectrum. But that
doesn’t mean we bring the bar right down to the base and expect everyone to be
able to tolerate abusive language or behavior.
If a person feels hurt by my cordial communication, it is
entirely his problem. But if I express myself in an abusive or insulting manner
and expect others to be okay with it, then it is my problem.
If only us Indians could learn to take valid criticisms
cordially and stop being fanatics for the right to freedom of expression (which
is often equated to freedom to abuse).
(Image courtesy : Google Images)
